Illness
by Bookdome34
Summary: Harry and his friends know something is up when he starts having strange symptoms. They affect him from participating in normal life. But what is going on? Join them on the journey as they attempt to figure out what is wrong. Set in 3rd year. Rated: T. Cancer fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, and therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.**

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Harry woke up while it was still dark. He was extremely excited, though. They were leaving the Leaky Cauldron that morning to go back to Hogwarts, for third year. He got up and got dressed, unintentionally bumping into a post on the bed and into the wardrobe.

"Oops," he said.

After a while, he headed downstairs to find Ron and Hermione bickering about how Crookshanks, Hermione's new cat, was a hazard to Scabbers, Ron's rat. Harry rolled his eyes and sat down to eat some breakfast. After everyone had eaten, Mr. Weasley pulled him aside.

"Harry," he started. "What do you know about Sirius Black?"

"That he escaped from Azkaban and is trying to find me," Harry replied.

"That's right!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed. "Molly and I want you to be very careful this year. Don't go looking for trouble, don't bring more attention to yourself than you already have."

Harry nodded in reply, and went to go collect his things. They took a Ministry car to King's Cross, and unlike the previous year, everyone made it through the barrier. They got onto the train, and the trio found a compartment where a man was sitting, asleep.

"Who the bloody hell is he?" Ron asked.

"Language, Ronald," Hermione said. "And he's Professor Remus J. Lupin."

"How'd you know that?" Ron asked her.

"It's on his suitcase," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh," Ron said.

"So Harry," Hermione said, turning to her other friend. "What did Mr. Wesley talk to you about earlier?"

Harry explained to them the story of Sirius Black. Some while later, the sky darkened and the train stopped. A floating black cloaked thing appeared at the doorway, and came inside. Harry heard a scream, and then his world went black.

* * *

When he woke up, the man from before was peering down at him, holding a chocolate bar.

"Ah, Harry," he said, helping him back up on his seat. He broke the chocolate bar into pieces and handed him one. "Eat it, you'll feel better."

Harry nodded and took the sweet, nibbling on it thoughtfully.

"What was that thing?" Harry asked.

"That," Professor Lupin answered. "Was a Dementor."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "I know about those. They guard Azkaban!"

Professor Lupin nodded and stood up.

"Smart one," he said. "If you'll excuse me, I must have a word with the driver."

He walked off. Harry's eyes followed him for as long as they could, but then they began to droop.

"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked, worry shining in her eyes.

"Yes," he replied. "Just tired. I'll be fine when we get to Hogwarts."

She nodded. When Harry woke up again, they were at Hogwarts.

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**That's the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. The next few chapters probably won't be as close to the plot as this one was. Please review what you thought.**


	2. Meeting With Dr Wilkins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter.**

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A week later, Harry sat in the Great Hall eating breakfast. It was a lazy Saturday morning, and they had the weekend free, since Hermione had forced them to finish all their assignments the previous night. Harry had collapsed into his bed, not even bothering to change out of his robes. When he reached for his pumpkin juice, Hermione gasped and exclaimed quietly,

"Harry, what happened to your arm?"

He looked at his outstretched limb and saw a large bruise there. He didn't even know he had had it.

"I hit my arm back at the Leaky Cauldron," he replied. "That must be where it's from."

Hermione nodded, but he saw a glint of doubt in her eyes. They returned to the common room and Harry settled down in an armchair to watch Ron attempt to get Hermione, who was reading a a book, to play a game of Wizard's Chess. Harry was so preoccupied with this that he didn't notice the Gryffindor Quidditch team come up behind him.

"Hey Harry," the twins said, leaning down by his ears.

He jumped and promptly fell off the chair he was sitting in. There was a thud as he attempted to grab the table to catch himself, but he ended up failing.

"Ouch," he moaned.

"Sorry, Harry," the twins muttered as he stood up. He felt slightly dizzy, and had to slump back into the chair so he wouldn't fall over.

"Get your robes," Wood said. "We're meeting on the pitch in fifteen minutes. Are you alright, Potter?"

"Yeah," he replied. "See you then."

They turned to leave, but as they were leaving the portrait hole they heard Hermione ask,

"Are you sure you should do Quidditch? You look positively peaky. And, oh my god, Harry! Your hand! It's black and blue didn't you try to catch yourself with that hand?"

"Yeah," they heard his reply.

"No one bruises that easily, Harry," Hermione said.

"I guess I do," Harry replied and then they heard him walking up towards his dorm.

The team shrugged and left. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, everyone was out on the pitch.

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After practice, the team changed and Wood cornered Harry about what Hermione had said.

"Have Madam Pomfrey check you out," he said. "I can't have a sick seeker. Better yet, we'll all come with you."

Harry groaned. When the team had finished showering and changing, the all went up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey looked annoyed to see him.

"What now, Potter?"

"I've been bruising easily and been having dizzy spells all day."

"Right," she said, pointing to what she had claimed as his bed. "Up you get."

He got up onto the bed and propped himself up with pillows. Madam Pomfrey placed a thermometer under his tongue and waved her wand a few times.

"38," she muttered. "You've got a bit of a fever, Potter."

She waved her wand a few more times.

t"Potter, I'm going to be honest, I have no idea what's wrong with you. It seems whatever is ailing you is a Muggle disease. I'll call in one of the doctors that helps me figure out things like this."

She turned to the team.

"You can stay if you want."

Ron and Hermione came through the doors as Madam Pomfrey went to phone the other doctor.

"Well," Hermione demanded.

"It's Muggle," Harry said. "We don't know yet."

When the doctor arrived an hour later, the sun was setting in the early autumn sky.

"Hello, Harry and friends," she said cheerfully. "I'm Dr. Elena Wilkins. I'm going to find out what's wrong with you. Have you ever been in a Muggle hospital before?"

They looked at her, confused.

"I'm a Squib," she said. "I know about magic. Answer the question Mr. Potter."

"When my cousin broke his arm, but not for me."

"Alright," she nodded and opened a file. She grabbed a wheeling thing that had a bunch of cords as she did so. "I'm going to check your vitals and then we'll get started."

She took his temperature, blood pressure and pulse. She took the thermometer away, but left him hooked to the occasionally beeping machine. He told her what his symptoms were as she nodded and scribbled notes, then frowned and scribbled more notes.

"Have you had any unintentional weight loss?" she asked. "Loss of apetite?"

"He didn't eat much at breakfast or lunch," Hermione supplied.

Harry nodded. "I wasn't very hungry."

Dr. Wilkins nodded. "Well, Harry, I could tell you you have Mono, which would explain your fatigue and other symptoms except for the easy bruising and dizziness. But even though your lymph nodes are swollen, I don't think it's Mono that's causing it. I'm going to take a blood test and a bone marrow test."

"Why the bone marrow test?" Hermione asked,the others looked confused at why she was asking. Wasn't everything a doctor did normal? Well, maybe not everything.

"I just want to make sure everything is normal. A problem with the bone marrow could be causing these symptoms."

She turned to Harry.

"Professor Dumbledore will give you a Portkey to my office tomorrow, where we will do the tests."

Harry nodded. "See you then."

She smiled as she walked away.

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**Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think. :)**


	3. The Letter Diagnosis- Cancer

**Disclaimer: If you haven't gotten the memo already, I don't own Harry Potter.**

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The next day, Harry met with Dumbledore and they took a Portkey to the hospital where Dr. Wilkins worked, disguised in Muggle clothes, and in Dumbledore's case, a glamor charm. They were led by a nurse to a separate room to wait for the doctor.

"Harry," she smiled as she came into the room. "Nice to see you. You too, Albus."

They smiled warmly at her, though Harry's seemed a bit weak.

"I'm going to draw your blood, and then we'll put you under while we take a bone marrow sample, okay?"

Harry nodded. Dr. Wilkins got a vial, as well as a couple extra, for the lab to have if they needed it. Soon after, the three vials were filled, but Harry's hand didn't stop bleeding. Dr. Wilkins wrapped it tightly in a gauze bandage.

"That should help for know," she said, and Harry noticed a hint of concern in her voice.

They gave Harry medicine to keep him unconscious as they took bone marrow, but when he woke up, his hip hurt a lot.

"Rest that hip, Harry," Dr. Wilkins told him. "And don't get it wet for a day or so. If it starts to bleed a lot, or feels infected, call me. Also if your fever goes up much higher, okay?"

The two males nodded.

"The tests should be back by Tuesday. Expect an owl."

Harry nodded, and they used the Portkey to go back to Hogwarts.

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"Well?" Ron asked when he got back to Gryffindor Tower. His team was there as well, and he felt their gazes staring at him intently.

"The tests won't be back until Tuesday. And once I get the letter I have to go to the Hospital Wing. And unless it's not that serious, I don't know how _many_ visitors Madam Pomfrey will let me have."

"Oh Harry," Hermione said. "You'll be alright."

He smiled in reply and went to bed, hoping that statement would be true.

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The next two days went by agonizingly slowly, and Harry had passed out during Charms on Monday. Professor Flitwick had looked worried, but was assured that everything would be fine. Harry was sitting at lunch when a buisness looking owl came through the window and landed in front of him. Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall watched him closely for a reaction to the piece of parchment. They saw Harry scan the letter, and saw his jaw drop, and tears brimming in his eyes. He stood up and stormed out of the hall, leaving his plate untouched. They hurriedly went after him, motioning for his friends to stay put, and not follow them. They found him in the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was just coming out of her office. She nodded towards the boy who was holding his lead in his hands. Dumbledore gently took the parchment from him and read what it said to his coworkers.

_Dear Harry, Poppy, Minerva, and Albus,_

_Unfortunately, the disease I suspected Harry has, well, the tests have confirmed it. Harry has Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, which is a form of cancer. This particular cancer has a 50-60% survival rate, but the cancer has progressed very quickly in Harry, but if we start treatments right away, his chances are better, but his Muggle guardians have to agree. Muggle, Albus, not magical. Sorry for ruining the happiness. I'm just the messenger. Contact me if you have questions._

_Dr. Elena Wilkins_

"Why did it have to be me?" the young teen asked.

The professors looked at him, faint tears shining in their eyes, as did his.

"I don't know Harry," answered McGonagall. "I honestly don't know."

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**End of chapter 3. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far, please tell me of you have any feedback. I'm having a lot of fun writing it.**


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